


the strong will never fall

by mindthewolves



Series: crush [supergirl spec scripts] [2]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Screenplay/Script Format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-11-05 15:25:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11016207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindthewolves/pseuds/mindthewolves
Summary: fix-it script set a few months after "watching stars without you" –ft. red kryptonite Kara with a side of Cadmus.





	the strong will never fall

EXT. NATIONAL CITY BANK – DAY

With its white columns and marble steps, the bank looks more like a museum. There is a police barricade surrounding it: Kevlar-armored men and women clustered in twos and threes, a white van parked on the perimeter, rear doors open, interior lined with computer equipment. Maggie steps up into the van and a computer tech hands her a phone.

MAGGIE (calmly): Right now it’s just an attempted robbery. No one got hurt, you’re doing a good job keeping things cool, and that counts for a lot.

She pauses to listen to the other end of the line.

MAGGIE: I hear you, and I’ll work on that, but I need you to do something for me, okay? Any kids, anyone who’s sick – I’m gonna need you to let them go, as a sign of good faith. (pauses) Let’s try to keep things calm so we all come out of this safe.

Hostages emerge from the bank in a slow trickle. They are received by policemen and medics.

MAGGIE: Thank you. I’m going to have someone bring you those sandwiches, all right?

Supergirl drops in and walks up to the van. Maggie holds up a hand for her to wait until she hangs up.

SUPERGIRL: I heard; how can I help?

MAGGIE (shakes her head): It’s not about just firepower. There are still five hostages in there, and you’re fast, but you’re not that fast.

SUPERGIRL: You sure about that? (smiles)

But she takes Maggie’s lead and sits down at the edge of the van floor to wait. Someone hands her a sandwich, which she takes with glee.

SUPERGIRL (mouths): Thanks.

 

DISSOLVE TO Supergirl nodding off against the wall of the van. The last of the hostages walk across the empty stretch between the bank and the police perimeter. She stands, stretching her legs. Maggie, still on the phone, looks exhausted.

MAGGIE (slowly, calmly): So here’s what we agreed. If you’re wearing jackets, you’re going to take them off, to show us you’re not hiding anything. Then you’re going to open the door with your left hand, keep your right hand on your head, and come out slow, one at a time. Once you’re out, you’re going to keep both hands on your head and drop to your knees. No sudden moves, okay? The SWAT guys will come up to you. They’re going to restrain you and walk with you over here, and I’m going to meet you there. Now I want to make sure this goes the way we planned, so tell it back to me like I explained it.

She listens, then nods.

MAGGIE: Okay, good. I’ll see you out here. (hangs up)

She steps down from the van to stand next to Supergirl. In her Kevlar she looks muted against the bright colors of Supergirl’s costume, but she wears the NCPD badge at her hip the way Supergirl wears the shield on her chest. Stronger together.

They watch as two distant figures emerge at the top of the stone steps. Their hands are on their heads, but they don’t kneel. Supergirl frowns. One of the robbers reaches for his back pocket as Maggie draws her gun. He throws a smoke grenade toward the police, and Supergirl rushes forward. In the smokescreen, the second suspect pulls a gun and fires blindly. Supergirl lets the bullets rain off her, unconcerned. When the gunfire stops –

SUPERGIRL: I think you ran out.

She looks amused – two years into it, she still has fun with being a super. The SWAT team moves in to arrest the suspects, and Maggie lets out the breath she’s been holding. She and Supergirl watch as the SWAT team folds the two suspects into the back of a squad car.

MAGGIE: Seriously? Even that guy got his hands on a grenade.

Supergirl laughs. She looks up at the sky; the sun is setting.

SUPERGIRL: Oh, it’s late. I have to go.

She starts to walk away then turns back, pointing at Maggie.

SUPERGIRL: Still on for drinks, right? Nine?

MAGGIE: Wouldn’t miss it, little Danvers.

 

INT. LENA LUTHOR’S OFFICE – NIGHT

Lena sits at her desk, reviewing paperwork, making notes as she goes. Her balcony doors are open, and her papers rustle slightly in the breeze. In the distance, the city is lit up with a thousand points of light, a thousand stories. She signs her name on a contract with a flourish and moves on to the next one.

Kara is lying on the couch and messing around on her phone, not having bothered to change out of her suit, her red boots thrown up on one arm of the couch.

Every once in a while Lena looks over, wonder in her eyes. Like she can’t quite believe Kara is here, on her couch, in the flesh. She turns back to her work, a small smile on her lips.

A text message pings in, and Kara laughs.

LENA (looking up): What is it?

KARA: Alex wants to throw a surprise party for Maggie’s birthday. Which sounds like a great idea, if she wants to get everybody shot.

LENA: The detective not good with surprises?

KARA: I wouldn’t think so. But I guess Alex knows her better.

LENA (sighs): Sorry these contracts are taking so long. You’re probably sick of waiting.

KARA: No! Not at all. And I’m not waiting – (softer) I like being in your office.

LENA: Oh yeah?

KARA: Yeah.

LENA: I like that you’re here, too.

Capping her pen, she stands up from her desk and walks over to the couch. Kara doesn’t get up, but she trails one hand along Lena’s waist and across her stomach.

LENA: Are you hungry?

She holds out a hand to pull Kara into an upright position.

KARA: Starving. (slips her phone into her boot)

LENA: Poor you.

The words have barely left her mouth when Kara pulls her down to her. She kisses her deeply, and Lena gives as good as she gets. She tangles her fingers in Kara’s hair and kisses her neck. Kara’s eyes fly open. 

Through her X-ray vision, the L Corp office is infinite, a multitude of rooms and apartments and lives layered one over the other. A woman is in the hallway outside Lena’s office, and she focuses in on the voice. It’s vaguely familiar.

WOMAN: Thank you, Jess. I’ll show myself in.

Lena is still kissing her, hands skimming higher over Kara’s ribs.

KARA (hisses): Fuck, it’s your mother!

–and Lena freezes. She stands, rearranging her dress. Kara runs a thumb under Lena’s lower lip, smudging away traces of lipstick. Then she’s out the balcony doors, a sudden gust of wind the only sign she was ever there. Lena sits back down at her desk. She’s regained her composure; only the state of her hair gives her away. It’s slightly messier than usual.

There’s a knock at her door, and Lillian Luthor walks in without waiting for an invitation. Lena stands, steepling her hands on the desk.

LENA (coolly): Hello, mother. To what do I owe the pleasure?

Lillian appraises her - the tangles in her hair, the flush of her skin - but her scrutiny has lost its power on Lena over the years. She’s no longer the foster child so desperate to please, and she doesn’t back down. Lillian frowns.

Lena raises one perfectly arched eyebrow in response. She learned from the best.

Her mother slides a tabloid magazine onto Lena’s desk, opened to a grainy photo of her with Supergirl in a club. Supergirl is whispering into her ear, and Lena’s lips are curved in a smile. It’s not particularly incriminating, but it still looks intimate – the kind of photo from which you could tell a thousand stories. Lena remembers what Kara whispered to her that night, and her mouth twitches with a smile, quickly suppressed.

LILLIAN: I don’t like the idea of you associating with her.

LENA (laughs): Is that why you’re here – to tell me who I can and can’t spend time with? 

LILLIAN: She’s dangerous, Lena. Look what her cousin did to Lex.

LENA: You mean what Lex did to himself.

LILLIAN: You should know better than to believe the media. They wanted a villain, and they made one.

LENA: I believe facts. 

LILLIAN: Lex was too trusting, and so are you. You’re so much alike, you know. But Supergirl will exploit that trust, just like her cousin, and sooner or later she’ll show her true colors.

LENA: She shows her true colors every day.

LILLIAN: Don’t be naive, Lena. I raised you to be more discerning. This city is so desperate to believe in a hero, to be saved, that it doesn’t even see how she’ll betray them. You’re better than that. Stay away from her – I don’t want to see you get hurt. I do love you, Lena, as much as you seem to have trouble believing it.

LENA (laughs bitterly): That sounds almost as sincere as the last time.

LILLIAN: Lena–

LENA: No, you’ve played all the cards you have to play. (dispassionately) What do you care who’s in my bed, mother? I never interfered with who was in yours.

Lillian presses her lips into a thin line. Her eyes are cold.

LILLIAN: I warned you, Lena. 

It is more threat than warning. The small muscles around Lena’s eyes tighten, and she lifts her chin almost imperceptibly. They share no blood, but the frost in her eyes is an inheritance from Lillian. This is Lena in full battle armor, the way she commanded a boarding school at seventeen, the way she learned to control her brother’s boardroom at twenty-eight.

Lillian turns on her heel and leaves. The door closes behind her, gently – slamming it would be beneath her dignity.

Lena watches her go. Then she walks over to the sideboard and pours herself a glass of bourbon from the cabinet. The wines she keeps on the sideboard are for show only – the cheapest wines, carefully curated and poured into decently expensive bottles, for no purpose other than that it amuses her to see Lillian grimace at the taste.

She hasn’t even taken a sip when Supergirl glides back in. Kara says nothing, just walks over and drops her forehead to Lena’s shoulder. She’s giggling. 

KARA: If she had come in a couple seconds earlier–

Her mood is infectious, and the tension in Lena melts away.

LENA: –I think she would have had a conniption. (pauses) I didn’t think Kara Danvers knew any words worse than “heck.” 

 

INT. ALIEN BAR – NIGHT

It’s early, and the bar is relatively empty tonight. Alex, Maggie, Winn, James, and Kara are at their regular table.

WINN: You’re bringing a Luthor here?

KARA (frowns): I thought you guys were friends. Why would you say that?

WINN: Uh, because this is an alien bar. As in, not human. As in, full of people who may or may not have a bone to pick with her and her family.

JAMES: He has a point, Kara. We could meet her somewhere else.

KARA: No, no, I’ll take care of it.

She leaves, and a few seconds later Supergirl walks in. Her friends look on as she starts with the regular at the bar.

SUPERGIRL (audio fades in): –and you’re going to be very, very nice, ok?

ALEX (from the table): Supergirl, leave the poor man to his WD-40.

She walks up to the two of them.

ALEX (to the bar patron): You’ll do what she just asked, or Supergirl is going to be the least of your problems. Got it? (pauses) I said is that clear?

He makes a sound that could vaguely be construed as assent, and Alex signals to the bartender.

ALEX: Let’s get you another can of that then.

She steers Supergirl away from the bar.

SUPERGIRL: Alex, I had that.

ALEX (grimaces): Mm, actually, no.

MAGGIE: What she’s trying to say is that you’re about as threatening as a puppy.

Supergirl looks offended, and Alex puts a hand on her shoulder.

ALEX: I’ll handle this.

She talks to each of the bar patrons in turn, cajoling or twisting arms as the occasion requires. When she rejoins the table, Kara is back in civilian clothes.

ALEX: You owe me like 300 bucks. 

KARA: What?

ALEX: I just bought everybody drinks. You’re welcome.

Lena walks in. There’s a brief hush, then chaos as the other patrons in the bar fall over themselves to be welcoming and massively overdo it. One of the aliens sweeps her up in a hug, and Lena extricates herself from her webbed hands with some difficulty and walks over to the table. 

LENA: Well, that was quite the welcome. 

Kara covers her eyes with one hand; the rest of the table is shaking with laughter. Lena pulls Kara’s hand away from her eyes and laces her fingers through Kara’s as she takes a seat.

 

EXT. LORD TECHNOLOGIES – NIGHT

Three masked individuals walk brazenly through the front doors. 

 

INT. LORD TECHNOLOGIES – NIGHT

The security guard on duty puts down his burger mid-chew and reaches for the alarm, but too late – one of the intruders fires, killing him instantly. The masked team turns down a corridor without missing a beat.

 

INT. KARA’S LOFT – NIGHT

The gang is engrossed in a game of Mario Kart. Lena, playing Yoshi in the top right corner, comes in first. Kara limps across the finish line in last place, and Toad shakes his head sadly. Maggie, having gotten up to get a slice of pizza, settles back on the couch next to Alex.

MAGGIE: Luthor’s got game.

JAMES: Seriously, Kara, how are you so bad at this? We play almost every week.

KARA: Hey! It takes a lot of concentration not to crush the controller, ok?

ALEX (laughs): And when she does break the controller, she loses anyway.

Kara looks thoughtfully at Winn.

KARA (slowly): Winn…what would it take for you to build me a less breakable controller?

ALEX and MAGGIE (in unison): Do not do that.

ALEX: It’s the one thing I get to lord over her.

WINN: Coffee? Every day for a month. –And a pastry. And making sure Alex doesn’t kill me.

KARA (pleased): Done.

Alex groans.

Kara’s phone vibrates – it’s J’onn. 

KARA: What’s going on? (pauses to listen) I’ll be right there. (hangs up) Sorry, I have to go.

ALEX: Do you need backup?

KARA (waving off her offer): No, it’s just a robbery, I got this. Someone has to stay to beat Lena.

She flashes her girlfriend a brilliant smile.

LENA (picking up the controller again): Stay safe.

KARA: Always.

 

EXT. LORD TECHNOLOGIES – NIGHT

Alarms are blaring. The masked burglars split up, getting into three different vehicles and driving in separate directions. Supergirl swoops down on the first car, leaving her handprint in the hood of the car. The robber tries to run, but she catches him and turns him over to the police waiting nearby. She launches into the air, searching for the other two members of the team, and takes off after one of them. The thief is on a motorcycle, and she uses her heat vision to blow out the rear tire. The motorcycle topples to the ground, sending its rider skidding across the pavement, unconscious.

Supergirl takes to the air again, but there’s no sign of the third burglar, even with her X-ray vision. She returns to where J’onn is rendezvousing with the NCPD.

SUPERGIRL: I lost him.

J’ONN: For now, maybe. Last I checked, Lord Tech puts trackers on all its prototypes. Whatever they were after, we’ll be able to track them and recover any technology they stole.

He claps her on the shoulder.

J’ONN: Go home, Supergirl. We’ll take care of this in the morning. Enjoy your game night – I’m sorry I couldn’t make it today.

SUPERGIRL: Next time.

J’ONN (smiles): Next time.

He walks away to talk with the NCPD as they take the two suspects into custody. Supergirl’s cape catches in the wind, looking almost black on this dimly lit street. In the darkness, the veins in her hand pulse red. She flies home.

 

INT. KARA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

The lights are off. Supergirl glides in through the window, careful not to disturb Lena, who’s already asleep in her bed.

She takes off her boots, leaving them in a pile on the floor, and tiptoes to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. The shower runs for an impossibly brief number of second before Kara comes back out in pajamas. She crawls into bed, and Lena wakes just enough to throw her arm over Kara’s stomach.

Kara melts into her touch, the veins in her neck flushing an otherworldly red.

 

INT. DEO HEADQUARTERS – DAY

J’onn, Alex, and Supergirl walk over to where Winn is sitting at his computer.

J’ONN: Show them the footage.

Winn does his computer magic and queues up a grainy security video of the break-in at Lord Technologies. In it, the intruders leave the building, each carrying a duffel bag, and split up.

WINN: This is from last night. (with dramatic flourish as he types) But take…a look…at this.

He rewinds the video to the moment the burglars exit the building.

ALEX: I don’t see anything.

He freezes on a single frame, and points at one of the thieves. Likely male, from the build. Tall. He’s looking right at the camera.

WINN: Right there. That glint.

There’s a glint of light on the man’s left eye; the right is dark on the camera.

ALEX: Looks like artifact.

WINN: Could be, but I don’t think it is. Look at his gait.

He plays the video again. The man’s gait is oddly familiar; Alex and Supergirl turn to look at J’onn, who looks irritated.

SUPERGIRL: He walks like you. 

J’ONN (hums equivocally): If we’re being technical, I guess I walk like him. 

ALEX: Cyborg Superman.

WINN: And the prize goes to…

He waves his arms to point finger guns at Alex.

SUPERGIRL: Can you track what they stole?

WINN: Pshh. Already done. The estate belongs to the Luthors, no surprise there.

He brings up a map of National City with a blinking dot on a remote estate, and turns smugly back to Supergirl. She’s already gone.

J’ONN (to Winn): Patch me through on comms. (exasperated) –Supergirl, we weren’t done with the briefing.

 

EXT. SKY – DAY

Supergirl in flight.

SUPERGIRL: I’ll take care of this, J’onn.

She removes the communications device from her ear and crushes it between her fingers before dropping it.

 

INT. DEO HEADQUARTERS – DAY

Winn and J’onn grimace at the screech of feedback from Supergirl’s mic.

J’ONN: Supergirl? Supergirl–

WINN (shrugs): She turned it off.

 

EXT. SKY – DAY

From above it’s a beautiful view – a sprawling house in the middle of acres of terraced vineyards, a precise copy of the satellite view Winn had called up, but less pixelated. Supergirl swoops down.

 

EXT. LUTHOR ESTATE – DAY

Supergirl looks very out of place here, dressed for war in the middle of this peaceful sprawl of hills, these carefully cultivated vines. She tries the door – locked, but she freezes the bolts until they’re brittle and easily shattered, then yanks the door open. She walks in.

 

INT. LUTHOR ESTATE – DAY

This is a different kind of opulence than the cold elegance of Lena’s office (which Kara has come to love, by the way. It will never be her taste, but she understands it as a part of Lena’s power. She wears it like armor and wields it like a weapon.) This house is built on indulgence: the rich luster of the wood, the plushness of the rugs, the leather-bound books on the walls, the shelves of liquor a sort of library all on its own.

No one is home. 

Supergirl X-rays the place, revealing an expansive underground facility. Underneath what looks like a guest room, there is a bustle of activity as Cadmus operatives arm themselves. She focuses her hearing, and Lillian’s voice snaps into the foreground, cutting across the high-pitched whine of perimeter alarms going off and the quiet clicks of safeties being taken off their respective weapons.

LILLIAN (on the phone): Your orders were to infect her with the synthetic kryptonite and lead her away from us. So explain to me why Supergirl just showed up at our doorstep. 

HANK HENSHAW (v.o.): I don’t take orders from you anymore.

LILLIAN: You don’t get to walk away from Cadmus. I made you. Without us, you’re nothing. You’re a monster.

HANK HENSHAW (v.o.): Like you said – I am what you made me, Mrs. Luthor. Enjoy the surprise.

Supergirl uses her heat vision to cut a jagged, vaguely circular hole in the floor and drops through.

 

INT. CADMUS UNDERGROUND

Everything is chaos. Cadmus soldiers open fire immediately, enough firepower to tear small holes in the super suit. Supergirl cuts several of the soldiers down with her heat vision – she can’t fight them all hand-to-hand in this tight space, not with all the computers and lab equipment in the way. A blast from an oversized gun (alien technology, must be) knocks her into a wall, momentarily stunned.

Lillian Luthor walks up to her and raises a gun to Supergirl’s chest. She looks pleased. The barrel of the gun glows faintly green: kryptonite bullets.

LILLIAN: The Girl of Steel. I have to admit, this is more…anticlimactic than I had imagined.

She pulls the trigger.

But Supergirl is faster than Lillian expected, and she’s behind Lillian in an instant, one arm across her neck. The bullet embeds itself in the wall instead. She disarms Lillian, tossing the gun on the floor.

SUPERGIRL: Drop your weapons, or she dies. And I don’t need a bullet to do it.

The remaining soldiers hesitate.

LILLIAN (grudgingly): Do what she says.

Slowly, they lower their guns to the floor.

SUPERGIRL: The rest of you can go.

She says it like she’s bored, like it’s nothing, and she points with her chin toward the door. Lillian glares at them, defying them to leave her. But they do, scrambling out the door and up the stairs without a backward glance.

SUPERGIRL: Not much to be said for their loyalty.

She releases Lillian and picks up the gun, examines it. The capillaries in her face stand out against her pale skin, spiderwebbed in red kryptonite. 

SUPERGIRL: A revolver. How old-fashioned.

Lillian turns to face her, poised for fight or flight, she’s not sure exactly which.

SUPERGIRL (lazily) : I think you know you won’t outrun me.

LILLIAN: Do you even know how to use that? (gestures at the gun)

Fight it is, then.

SUPERGIRL (humorlessly): I watch movies.

LILLIAN: What do you want from me?

SUPERGIRL: I just want to play a game. If you win, I’ll let you go. If you don’t, well– (laughs)

Lillian is clearly shaken, but some of the steel comes back into her.

LILLIAN: Games are for children.

SUPERGIRL: Maybe. But it looks like you’re out of other options.

She opens the cylinder of the revolver and ejects the bullets, hissing as the kryptonite burns her palm. She sets three bullets on a nearby table and reloads the cylinder with the remaining two.

SUPERGIRL: One for me, one for you.

LILLIAN: You’re joking.

Supergirl smiles, but the set of her mouth is cruel. She spins the cylinder and closes it.

SUPERGIRL (gestures with the gun to the nearest intact chair): Have a seat.

Lillian glares at her but obeys. Taking a length of metal from a broken shelf, Supergirl kneels and, pulling the metal like taffy, bends it to cuff Lillian’s ankles to the chair legs. She straightens.

SUPERGIRL: How well do you know your mythology? “Cadmus” – it’s poetic.

She hands the gun back to Lillian, grip first, almost chivalrous.

SUPERGIRL: You want to slay monsters, Lillian? Here’s your chance.

And Lillian takes it, pointing the gun at Supergirl’s heart. Even tied to a chair she radiates power and menace, a Luthor through and through. Supergirl doesn’t look concerned in the least.

SUPERGIRL (softly): Uh-uh-uh. (gently pushing the barrel to the side) Point that at me again, and you’ll be dead before the bullet leaves the chamber.

She covers Lillian’s hand with her own and moves it up, up, until the barrel rests against her temple. There’s an echo of something maternal in the gesture: like taking a kid’s hand to teach her how to write her name. Lillian’s hand shakes.

SUPERGIRL: Statistically speaking, you have a 66.67% chance of survival if you pull the trigger now. Try and turn that on me, and those odds drop to zero.

Lillian squeezes the trigger, anger smoldering in her eyes. The chamber is empty, and she exhales in relief.

Supergirl holds her hand out for the gun, X-rays it to determine that the next chamber is also empty, and fires casually at herself. She hands it back, all one fluid motion.

SUPERGIRL: Fifty-fifty shot, Lillian.

She takes a seat on the floor, cross-legged, bored.

LILLIAN: I know who you are, Kara Zor-El.

SUPERGIRL: Do you.

LILLIAN: …Or should I say Kara Danvers?

Supergirl narrows her eyes and focuses in on Lillian’s pulse: fast, but steady.

LILLIAN: If anything happens to me, that information gets out. The world will know who you are, Supergirl. You won’t have another life to hide behind.

There’s a sharp uptick in Lillian’s heart rate, and Supergirl laughs – she’s pushed her luck too far.

SUPERGIRL: We both know that’s a lie.

LILLIAN: Would you bet your sister’s life on it? Your friends’ lives? 

SUPERGIRL (without hesitation): I would. Your turn, Lillian.

Lillian ignores her. The grip of the gun is still warm from Supergirl’s hand.

LILLIAN (evenly): And my daughter’s life. Would you bet that?

Still cross-legged on the floor, Supergirl slowly cranes her neck up to look at Lillian.

SUPERGIRL: Are you threatening her?

LILLIAN (smiles thinly): You’re very quick to defend her. I asked you before: what are you to my daughter?

But this time Supergirl is silent. She doesn’t know; she’s never asked Lena to define what was between them. If she’s being honest, she’s afraid of the answer. Because for her, Lena is inevitable, is gravity.

LILLIAN: She’s seduced you. I don’t blame you; she plays the game very well. But that’s just it– you’re a game to her, Supergirl. One among many.

SUPERGIRL: Don’t talk about her like that.

LILLIAN: I see I’ve hit a nerve.

SUPERGIRL: I don’t understand–

LILLIAN: What is there to understand? She loves to win. Both my children really – I raised them to fight for what they wanted, to have ambition.

SUPERGIRL: No, not that. I don’t understand why you can’t see how good she is, in spite of you. How she does fight for what she believes in, against all odds. How she still hopes for better things from you, even though you don’t deserve it. You’re the disappointment. And you want to know what the irony is? You kept telling her she’s not truly a Luthor, but she is, and she can make that name good. But you– you married in; you’re not a Luthor at all.

LILLIAN: I–

SUPERGIRL: You’re stalling, Lillian. Come on – clearly you like games.

She gestures at Lillian to hurry up.

Lillian clenches her jaw as she lifts the gun to her temple a second time. From her position on the ground, Supergirl mimics her, making the shape of a gun with her right hand and cradling it in her left. It’s something she learned from watching Alex.

Lillian pulls the trigger, and–

SUPERGIRL (softly): Bang.

But Lillian is still alive, the odds in her favor today, and Supergirl stands to take the gun.

Supergirl X-rays the cylinder again, and this time the chamber is not empty. She brings the gun up and fires–

–and dodges. The bullet accordions into the wall.

SUPERGIRL: Oh, so close.

Closer than she would’ve liked; she’d underestimated how much the proximity of the kryptonite dulled her powers. She reaches up to wipe away a trickle of blood at her temple, her heart racing.

LILLIAN: You broke the rules.

But she takes the gun Supergirl holds out to her.

SUPERGIRL (laughs hollowly): You thought this would be fair?

Lillian weighs the gun in her hands, desperation in the set of her mouth, in the tension around her eyes. She calculates her odds. It’s simple math. She raises the gun.

 

CUT TO BLACK. A shot rings out.

 

INT. DAILY PLANET (METROPOLIS) – DAY

Compared with Catco, this office is more utilitarian, rougher around the edges. Reporters are busy typing up articles in their respective cubicles, Clark Kent among them. A crowd gathers around the TV on the wall, and one of the reporters turns the volume up.

ZOOM IN on footage–

 

INT. NEWSROOM – DAY

Footage of the Luthor estate in flames.

REPORTER: …and it appears that Supergirl has recapitulated her bad girl persona of last year, when she threw Queen of Media Cat Grant off her own balcony. Witnesses say–

INTERCUT BETWEEN FOOTAGE AND DAILY PLANET

REPORTER (in background): –she set fire to a suspected black site of anti-alien group Cadmus earlier this morning; firefighters are still trying to control the flames. 

Clark looks up from his work, the news report catching his attention.

 

INT. LENA’S OFFICE – DAY

Lena is sitting at her desk when Jess bursts in.

JESS: Ms. Luthor, I think there’s something you should see.

Lena nods, and Jess turns on the news.

REPORTER (V.O.): Reports of the damage are still coming in, but preliminary findings suggest that there have been casualties.

LENA (frowns): Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

JESS: Of course.

She leaves, closing the door behind her.

Lena takes out her phone and dials.

 

INT. CATCO – DAY

The office is bustling with activity, every TV turned on and tuned into the various news stations. Phones are ringing; reporters are typing; the break room is buzzing with gossip.

SNAPPER (O.S., over the commotion): Where’s Danvers? I need her to cover the Luthor angle.

The elevator doors open and Alex walks out. She’s dressed for the DEO – black blazer, black shirt, black pants – and looks strangely monochromatic against Catco’s bright color palette. As she shoulders her way past hurried reporters, her phone rings and she answers, flustered. 

ALEX: Hello?

LENA (V.O.): Alex?

ALEX: Lena, hi.

 

INT. LENA’S OFFICE – DAY

LENA: Sorry, is this a bad time? I couldn’t get ahold of Kara but…why is my family’s vineyard burning?

ALEX (V.O.): Oh, god. I am so sorry about that. There have been some…complications.

LENA: Is she ok? …Alex?

She paces back and forth, her usual calm, collected facade discarded minutes ago.

ALEX (V.O.): I think so, physically at least – we lost comms a while back. She’s not herself.

 

INT. CATCO – DAY

LENA (V.O., hesitantly): In a…kryptonite-induced sort of way?

ALEX (suddenly protective): What do you know about it?

LENA (V.O.): Is that an accusation? (pauses) I would never hurt her, Alex.

ALEX: And I know that, I’m sorry, I just– I can’t think straight right now.

LENA (V.O.): You’re her sister, I get that. She’s lucky to have you. 

ALEX: Yeah, not if I can’t figure this out. Hey, any chance L Corp is working on some tech we could use?

LENA (V.O.): Well, not tech, exactly–

ALEX: But you have something.

LENA (V.O.): Maybe. It’s a slim maybe, but– I can show you if you stop by.

ALEX: I’ll be there in an hour.

She hangs up and heads toward James’ office, trying not to look at the news reports plastered over a dozen TV screens.

James is in the middle of a staff meeting, but she walks in anyway. He looks between his employees and Alex and back again.

JAMES: Let’s continue this later.

The employees show themselves out, glancing curiously at Alex on their way out. She ignores them except to shut the glass doors behind them.

ALEX: I need you to call Clark. Now.

JAMES: Alex, what is going on with her?

ALEX: I’ll explain later. I’m sorry, I have to go.

She leaves. Behind her, James activates his signal watch.

 

EXT. STREETS OF NATIONAL CITY – DAY

Supergirl flies over the city, surveying it from above: matchbox cars racing along the highways, kids tossing frisbees in the park, people enjoying a late lunch in front of a cafe. A woman walks past a group of four men loitering on the busy street corner. One of the men calls out to her.

MAN: Hey!

The woman ducks her head and walks faster.

MAN (angrily): Hel-loooo!

His friends don’t join in, but neither do they interfere. He grabs the woman by the forearm as she passes him.

MAN: Hey beautiful, I was talking to you.

The woman scowls, wrenching her arm out of his grasp just as Supergirl lands.

SUPERGIRL: I think she’s made it clear that she doesn’t want to talk to you. So leave the lady alone.

The man shrugs and backs off, palms up.

WOMAN (murmurs): Thank you.

Supergirl nods at her, and the woman continues on her way. But Supergirl stays, hands on hips, staring the man down. He shrugs again.

MAN: What’s your problem? I was just bein’ friendly.

She uses her freeze breath on him without warning, knocking him into a concrete bench. He crumples on the ground. She doesn’t let up until he begins to shiver and pale, a thin layer of frost creeping over his skin. His friends jump back, giving him a wide berth, as if his condition might be contagious.

Supergirl walks away, into a crowd that parts for her and whispers after her. Halfway down the street, a pair of hand-lettered signs in a shop window catches her eye. NO SHOES NO SHIRT NO SERVICE, reads the first one. And the second: HUMANS ONLY, underlined several times for emphasis.

She waits for the traffic to clear, then crosses the street to stand in front of the window. The shop looks like a hybrid between a deli and a convenience store with its row of bright refrigerators and shelves upon shelves of snacks.

Supergirl taps twice on the window with her index finger and the sheet glass shatters, cascading over her red cape. Behind the counter, an old woman jumps and watches with wide eyes as Supergirl scorches a line in the linoleum floor with her heat vision for good measure.

She takes off into the air as suddenly as she’d come and is immediately tackled in midair. When she recovers her equilibrium, she is miles above the city, Superman hovering in front of her.

SUPERMAN (shouting across the distance): This isn’t you, cousin!

SUPERGIRL: It’s more me than I’ve ever been.

SUPERMAN: No, it’s not. You don’t want to wake up tomorrow with blood on your hands.

SUPERGIRL (laughs mirthlessly): There’s already blood on my hands.

Superman looks immeasurably sad.

SUPERMAN (softly): It’s not too late to turn back. (flies closer) Kara.

SUPERGIRL (mockingly): Clark. 

SUPERMAN: You have family here. People who love you. We’ll get through this together.

SUPERGIRL (snarls): You want to talk about family, Clark? My parents sent me here to look after you, and I failed in that, but I would have. I would’ve watched over you, been there for you, but you? You threw me away to some other family the first chance you got.

SUPERMAN: I didn’t throw you away–

SUPERGIRL: No, you did, because I had to hide, I had to figure this out on my own because you’re the only one in the world who knows what it’s like, but I guess you couldn’t be bothered to do more than text every once in a while.

SUPERMAN: Growing up with the Kents was the best life I could’ve imagined. The best childhood. I mean, I guess I had nothing to compare it to. But I wanted that for you. We’d both lost so much, and I– I thought it was better than anything I could ever give you.

SUPERGIRL: You didn’t lose anything, Clark! Because you don’t remember any of it. The skyscape of Argo City, the lights and the spires; how it feels to have your own language on your tongue; how it feels to really belong somewhere. But I remember. I had that once, and I lost it.

SUPERMAN: Do you know how much worse it is that I can’t remember?

SUPERGIRL (scoffs): How could it be worse?

Superman takes a deep breath.

SUPERMAN: Kara, it was never that I didn’t want to look out for you or be there for you. I wanted you to have a chance at a normal life, if that was something you wanted. Not to be pulled into my world. I was already Superman by then; if you’d stayed with me you would have grown up fighting Lex, caught up in a war that was never yours to start with.

SUPERGIRL: It’s too late for that; I’m in this fight now. Join me, cousin – we could rule together, end wars, make this world in our image. We could be gods together.

SUPERMAN: But we’re not gods. This power – it’s not real, Kara. It’s just a trick of biology.

SUPERGIRL (laughs): How does that make it any less real?

SUPERMAN: Don’t do this, Kara. Come back with me to the DEO.

SUPERGIRL: Oh, I don’t think so. Are you going to make me? I may have grown up in your shadow but I’m still stronger than you, baby cousin.

SUPERMAN: I can’t let you do this.

He throws the first punch.

#

INT. DEO HEADQUARTERS 

The command station is buzzing with activity, several monitors tracking Supergirl and Superman as they battle across the sky. The phone rings. An agent picks up, then holds it out to J’onn.

AGENT: It’s for you, sir.

J’onn puts the phone to his ear, freezing when he hears the voice on the line.

J’ONN: Madame President. 

PRESIDENT (V.O.): I want this contained. With lethal force if necessary.

J’onn sighs audibly.

PRESIDENT (V.O.): Is that understood, Director?

J’ONN: Understood, Madame President.

 

INT. L CORP LABORATORIES — DAY

Lena takes Alex down a long corridor, swiping them in to the labs. The double doors slide open.

ALEX: Wow.

It’s a common room of sorts, but one that has clearly been commandeered by geeks. There are design sketches for impossible machines tacked up on the walls and graffitied with captions, shelves and shelves of board games, a kitchen area with a Bunsen burner labeled FOR FOOD ONLY!!! and two refrigerators, one EDIBLE (& potable) and the other EXPERIMENTS. Underneath this label an enterprising personage has written: _contents – mice sans several vital organs (18), murine eyeballs (35), listeria isolated from moldy sandwich (1), jars of ectoplasm (3)._

Half-finished projects hang inchoate from the ceiling or clutter the floor, and one table boasts a gleaming silver track twisted into a Möbius strip. 

ALEX: Is that for–

LENA: Quantum locking? Yes.

Alex grins. 

LENA: It’s more of a backyard science experiment than anything – doesn’t really scale up.

ALEX: I’d love to see it in action sometime.

LENA (smiles): When the world’s not in crisis?

ALEX: If that ever happens. (pauses) Don’t take this the wrong way, but this is…not what I expected from L Corp.

LENA (shrugs): People do better work when they’re happy.

She shows Alex down one of the hallways branching off from the common room, and into a proper lab. It’s small but well-outfitted, if a little forlorn.

LENA (quietly): This is where Lex used to do his research.

She doesn’t say: against Superman. But she doesn’t have to. Alex looks around, at the newspaper clippings taped to the lab bench, the blueprints for anti-alien weapons, a few of the prototypes still gathering dust on the lab benches.

Lena walks to the computer terminal and logs in, verifying her identity with her fingerprint, and brings up several documents. She gestures to Alex.

LENA: Have a seat.

Alex scrolls through the reports. One details the composition and chemical synthesis of red kryptonite, others the reactivity and other properties. Each page is watermarked LORD TECHNOLOGIES and CLASSIFIED.

ALEX: How did you get all this?

LENA (smiles): I may have hired a certain mutual acquaintance to hack into a rival company. Don’t worry, the computer is air-gapped and the lab itself if RF-shielded – Winn helped me set it up – so the information should be safe from prying eyes.

ALEX: The half-life is 20 hours?

LENA: Unfortunately. So we could wait, but the elimination would take days.

ALEX: If the data is accurate.

LENA: If it’s accurate. Max Lord may be an anti-government jackass with a god complex, but he tends to be meticulous when it comes to research.

ALEX: You forgot womanizing. 

LENA: How could I forget.

She smiles and leans back against the lab bench, waiting patiently as Alex goes back to reading. Several moments pass.

LENA (almost to herself): She dreams about it sometimes.

The smile is gone now. Alex turns to face her.

LENA: She told me how it felt once, all her demons on the surface. How she came up against her worst self and lost. She said– she didn’t think she could survive it again. 

ALEX: She’s strong. She’ll survive it. 

LENA (shakes her head): I’d never seen her look so lost.

ALEX (steely): So what’s the plan then, Luthor?

That snaps Lena out of her paralysis. She walks to a refrigerator, keys in a code, and pulls out a glass vial, handing it to Alex.

LENA: It’s more of a thought experiment than… I mean, it was meant to be a vaccine, but I didn’t know enough about her biology to even guess at how the might work. But what if we could chelate it? Kryptonite’s a metal; it’s a 2+ cation.

ALEX: Something like DMSA.

LENA: Right. This is a monoester of DMSA. The chelated kryptonite should be too bulky and too hydrophilic to cross the blood brain barrier, and in theory it should curb the behavioral effects. Of course I couldn’t very well test it, so…very, very theoretically.

ALEX (looking thoughtful): Oral?

LENA: Parenteral. You have any kryptonite-tipped tranquilizer darts lying around?

ALEX (guiltily): Yeah, we kept some. For emergencies.

 

EXT. SKY ABOVE NATIONAL CITY – DAY 

Superman weaves between skyscrapers, Supergirl close behind. She loses him for a moment, but catches a glimpse of his cape rounding the corner of a building and barrels through glass and steel to tackle him on the other side. He’s flung against the side of another building but regains his altitude.

SUPERGIRL: I know what you’re doing.

SUPERMAN: Me? I’m not doing anything.

SUPERGIRL: You’re trying to get me to chase you into the desert. Less collateral damage. But I like it here.

She turns her heat vision on the streets below, searing deep gashes into the pavement.

 

EXT. NATIONAL CITY STREETS – DAY

On the other side of the city, Alex zigzags through traffic on her bike. There’s smoke in the distance.

 

EXT. CATCO – DAY 

From Cat Grant’s balcony, James watches as Superman falls through the sky.

ZOOM IN on Superman falling.

CUT TO balcony; James is no longer silhouetted in the window.

 

INT. DEO HEADQUARTERS

On the grainy DEO monitors, Superman scrabbles for a handhold as he falls past a rooftop, but only succeeds in breaking off a section of railing. He lands on his back on the sidewalk, stunned.

Supergirl hovers over him, too far up to decipher her expression.

A hush descends over the DEO as everyone turns to watch the screens. J’onn looks resigned as he takes in the agent in front of him, outfitted in the kryptonite exo-suit. He hands the agent a sword, archaic compared with the rest of the technology in the DEO arsenal. The blade glows green.

ALEX (O.S.): What are you doing?

J’onn and the other agents turn to look as Alex walks in. The agent in the exo-suit pales.

J’ONN: Our orders are to establish control of the situation. It’s a capture mission. No one’s going to get hurt.

ALEX: Can you honestly promise me he (gestures dismissively at the agent) won’t panic and put that blade in Supergirl’s back? Because I don’t think you can. And I will never forgive you if something happens to her.

J’onn takes her aside.

J’ONN: I won’t let that happen, Alex. She’s like a daughter to me.

ALEX: Let me go instead.

J’ONN: I can’t put you in that position.

ALEX: You’re not. I’m offering. If it comes to that, I will fight her. But there’s something else I want to try first.

Alex doesn’t wait to hear his response. She walks over to the exo-suited agent. He holds the kryptonite sword gingerly, as though it will bite him, and she looks him over in disdain.

ALEX: Get changed.

He scrambles to follow her instructions and begins to strip off the suit in the middle of the DEO.

ALEX (exasperated): In a locker room! 

 

EXT. NATIONAL CITY STREETS – DUSK

James kneels next to Superman, who lies still at the center of a concrete crater. A limo pulls up on the opposite side of the street, and Lena gets out. She’s in civilian clothes.

LENA (softly): Supergirl.

It takes a few seconds, but Supergirl appears, cruel and cold and beautiful, hovering a few feet above the ground.

SUPERGIRL: You were looking for me? 

She gives Lena a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

SUPERGIRL (pityingly): Lonely Lena.

LENA: I was. But not with you.

ALEX (O.S., on comms): Lena, we’re in position.

Supergirl’s eyes widen.

SUPERGIRL: You brought backup.

LENA: I did.

There are DEO agents in the windows of several buildings flanking Supergirl’s current position, all armed with tranquilizer guns. Supergirl somersaults through the air, trying to evade each shot, but she can’t outrun them all. 

Supergirl’s expression flits from anger to cold neutrality to horror as the first of the darts hits her in the deltoid, and the influence of the red kryptonite begins to fade. She screams, hands curled into fists, heat vision turned at the sky. It’s a beacon that can be seen for miles.

–until she solar flares, and buckles, exhausted.

Lena catches her as she sags to the ground, both of them kneeling on the broken concrete. She holds her close, whispering into Kara’s long hair, the kryptonite bracelet half-hidden under her long sleeves.

From the sidewalk, James digs out his cell phone from his pocket and takes their photo. Tomorrow, it will be front-page news.

In the background, Superman stirs, and James turns back to him.

 

INT. DEO MED BAY – NIGHT

Alex and Maggie talk in low voices on one end of the infirmary. Behind them, Supergirl lies on a hospital bed, hooked up to several monitors. On the other side of the glass med bay walls, J’onn talks to Lena (inaudible). She nods in response to his last statement.

ALEX: Maggie, please. Please don’t do this. Just forget you ever saw past the glasses, forget you ever knew–

In the background, Supergirl opens her eyes, rips off the monitoring stickers.

MAGGIE (stoic): I can’t. It’s my job.

Alex is quiet for a moment.

ALEX (softly): Where does that leave us, then?

Maggie is silent, desperately looking for the right words, finding there are no right words.

Supergirl comes up behind Alex and puts a hand on her shoulder. Alex turns, and Supergirl presses a kiss to her forehead.

SUPERGIRL: I can’t let you give up anything else for me, Alex. I have to face what I did; you can’t protect me from that.

She holds out her hands to Maggie, wrists up. She looks haunted, like her ghosts have finally caught up with her, like she’s lived a century in the space of a day.

Through the glass, Lena looks horrified. She rushes into the med bay, J’onn on her heels.

Maggie’s hand goes to the set of cuffs on her belt. She hesitates.

MAGGIE: Go home, Supergirl. Don’t leave the city though; I might have questions for you later.

Lena puts her hand on Supergirl’s upturned wrists, bringing them back down to her sides.

LENA: Let’s go home. (mouths to Maggie) Thank you.

Maggie nods.

Lena guides Supergirl away, and Supergirl allows herself to be guided. When they are almost out of the med bay, Alex rushes up to Supergirl and wraps her in a tight hug.

ALEX (whispers): I love you.

Supergirl just hugs her tighter.

ALEX: We’ll fix this.

Supergirl shakes her head. Alex pulls back, placing her thumb and forefinger on Supergirl’s jaw to keep her looking up at Alex.

ALEX (determined): Hey. Yeah, we will. I promise.

And she lets them go. She turns back to Maggie, unable to look her in the eye.

ALEX: I’m sorry I asked you to do that. I’m sorry I asked you to choose…between me and your job. Between me and what’s right. I just couldn’t– And I know it was selfish, I know. (pauses) But also, thank you, thank you so, so much.

Maggie hugs her fiercely.

 

INT. KARA’S LOFT – NIGHT

A key scrapes in the lock, and the door opens. Lena walks in and Kara follows, making a beeline for the bathroom.

The sound of retching comes from the bathroom, followed by the sound of water running as Kara rinses her mouth.

Lena pours a glass of water and brings it to her, and Kara accepts it without a word. She can’t quite bring herself to look at Lena. She downs the entire glass.

LENA: Let’s get you to bed.

Kara nods, allows herself to be led to her bedroom. They are dark figures in a dark room, illuminated only by the city lights streaming in through the blinds. Kara curls up on the bed, curls into herself, and Lena sits next to her with one hand on her shoulder, rubbing small circles with her thumb until Kara’s eyes close and her breathing evens out.

Lena gets up slowly, trying not to disturb her, but Kara grabs at her hand as she stands up.

KARA (whispering): Please don’t leave.

Because this is where she loses her, and her voice is ashes. 

But Lena squeezes her hand once before letting go and walking to the other side of the bed. She peels off her jacket and steps out of her jeans, and climbs in. She leans back against the headboard, knees to her chest, slightly turned towards Kara.

LENA: I’m here.

Kara reaches for her, and Lena takes her hand, playing with her fingers.

KARA: I’m so sorry, Lena. For what I did. For everything. (pauses) I would’ve thrown away the whole world for you, and instead I– 

LENA (quietly): You know there was no love lost between my mother and me.

KARA: But I also know you wanted something from her. I took away that chance.

LENA (sighs): Maybe. But it was never going to happen, Kara. As much as I might’ve wanted it, I was never a daughter to her.

KARA: Do you think– could you ever–

LENA (gently): Could I what?

But Kara doesn’t finish her question. She cries silently, tears falling hot on the sheets. Lena says nothing, but she doesn’t let go of her hand. Kara slips half into sleep like this, until Lena says into the dark–

LENA: I never thought I’d have this. Even in the beginning, when you’d come looking for a story, and we’d fence – you are the opposite of loneliness for me, Kara. And I– I love you.

Kara closes her eyes, takes one breath in. One breath out. She turns onto her back so she can look at Lena.

She reaches out for her, her palm skimming Lena’s neck, her fingers tangling in her hair, traveling down her spine, as she brings Lena’s mouth to hers. She kisses her fiercely, like she is drinking in happiness and absolution and everything good, like she’s drinking in light, and in a way she is. She brushes her lips over Lena’s one last time, and Lena rests her head on Kara’s chest.

KARA (whispers): I love you. So much.

 

EXT. NATIONAL CITY – DAWN

The city in ruins.

**Author's Note:**

> leave comments, I soak them up like rain & they're the only way I know if a fic's working or not. I live for ao3 pings =]
> 
> closed for prompts right now, but pls send coffee & asks & fic recs @ mindthewolves.tumblr.com


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